
Modern CTO How AI Agents Are Redefining Customer Experience with Adrian McDermott, CTO at Zendesk
Dec 1, 2025
Adrian McDermott, CTO at Zendesk, shares his insights on how AI agents are revolutionizing customer service. He argues that rather than replacing teams, automation expands their capabilities and drives innovation. Adrian explores three AI application modes and the evolution of support from phone calls to intelligent agents. He highlights the need for strong REST APIs to support automation and discusses the financial shift to outcome-based pricing. Adrian's personal approach to leadership leans on being adaptable and prioritizing grit when hiring.
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AI Scales Service Without Mass Layoffs
- Generative AI expands what customer service can automate by handling language, repetition, and nuance at scale.
- Adrian McDermott says AI increases bandwidth rather than replaces teams, enabling more service and innovation.
Three AI Modes For Support
- Zendesk applies AI in three modes: classical automation, human-in-the-loop copilots, and insight engines.
- Each mode addresses different support needs: triage, agent enablement, and continuous improvement.
Frontier Models Add Context And Empathy
- Frontier models let agents probe tone, intent, and product context to resolve complex tickets beyond rule-based bots.
- Adrian says this enables behaviors that were impossible with traditional code or rule systems.





